RAW #153
Date: 1 April 1996
Location: Orange Pavilion; San Bernadino, CA
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
He's hardcore! He's hardcore!
It's the annual tradition of RAW After Mania, and it's debuts galore! Vince and Jerry welcome us to this live show from California, after a video package about WMXII.
Mankind def. Bob Holly (3:22)
After months of vignettes, Mankind has arrived. And as Vince would say, he's deranged! He just savages poor Bob Holly from the beginning and works him over in the corner, before hitting a running knee to down his opponent. And to celebrate, he pulls out his own hair. Meanwhile, there's a bunch of dudes in the front row who clearly enjoy a bit of ECW and chant "he's hardcore" (which Vince ignores, obviously). Holly tries to mount a comeback with a dropkick and then goes for a dive to the outside, but Mankind catches him and takes him back inside to finish the job. He sets up Holly in the corner for the TREE OF WOE and throws an elbow at his head. That puts Holly on the mat, so Mankind goes for the throat (so to speak) and applies the Mandible Claw. Holly submits but Mankind takes a long time to release it and forces him to emit some white substance. Very effective squash here to put over the Mankind character, and they're coming out of the gate pretty strong with it. (*1/2)
Hey, guess who's at ringside. It's Sable! We then take another look at the fight that broke out last night between her real husband Marc Mero and her date last night Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Speaking of wild men...
Marc Mero def. Isaac Yankem DDS (4:26)
Hey, Mero's music ain't bad! And Sable looks impressed, which brings out HHH to try and talk some sense into her. Mero sends Yankem outside early with a dropkick and then does a 360 plancha to the outside in a fun spot. Yankem then rolls back in, so Mero attempts a springboard leg drop and it looks...very bad. Mero is still going wild and catches the huge Yankem in a headscissors, before decking him with a knee lift. Yankem finally gets a moment to breathe, as he wipes out Mero with a clothesline. Yankem then applies a REST HOLD as Helmsley continues to harass Sable. Mero breaks out of the hold eventually and gets a near fall off a crucifix. Yankem attacks the back of Mero, hoping to slow him down a bit, but Mero steals another pin that Yankem kicks out from. Mero then engineers a sunset flip, and that's enough to keep Yankem down for three. Not a bad little debut for Mero here, although there were some awkward moments in there. (*3/4)
Post-match, Helmsley isn't giving up and tries to ward Sable away, so she slaps the shit out of him! Mero comes to the rescue and carries Sable out of there while Hunter fumes. I guess that makes them an official partnership.
The Bodydonnas (w/Sunny) def. Aldo Montoya & Barry Horowitz (5:31)
The Bodydonnas are our new Tag Team Champions but this match is non-title. Sunny is looking extra sexualised this evening. A bit of shock and awe gets Aldo off to a flying start, before tagging on Barry Horowitz. He has some fun beating on Skip like it's the middle of 1995 and tags Aldo back in. In the end, some double teaming gets Skip and Zip control and they hit a double flapjack on Montoya to assert their dominance. The champs have some fun with Aldo on the outside, but Skip's attempt to suplex Aldo back into the ring leads to him getting suplexed out of it! Gnarly spot. Montoya then leaps to the floor from the turnbuckle as the crowd begin to realise "hey, these guys are doing some cool shit". Barry gets the hot tag now and RUNS WILD, before getting a small package on Skip. That should be enough for three but Zip and Sunny have the referee distracted. Barry tags Aldo back in, and he hits a flying body press for another near fall. Skip rallies now, levelling Aldo with a German Suplex before hitting a spinebuster. Aldo is all at sea now, and Zip tags in for a Whoopee Cushion to finish the match. Kind of a lame ending to this one but these guys were rolling and actually won the crowd over. (**1/4)
It's interview time now, as Vince welcomes the NEW WWF Champion Shawn Michaels to this very ring. Shawn does a slightly queasy promo here, thanking the fans and giving Bret a shout out. It's 1996 Shawn though so it all feels very disingenuous. Diesel is HBK's opponent at the next IYH show (even though he lost at WMXII), but first he'll have to go through Jerry Lawler on RAW next week. Someone tell me what the actual point of that match is; does anyone really believe King is winning the big one ever?! He ends on the line that will become the subtitle for the upcoming PPV: him and Diesel were good friends, but they're better enemies. You could just feel the heat of Shawn's reign draining out the building here, as they were making to the same mistakes they made with Diesel.
The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def. Justin Bradshaw (w/Uncle Zebekiah) via DQ (4:54)
They keep going on about how battered and bruised Taker is after wrestling Diesel, as if that's meant to justify them giving the next title shot to a loser. It's okay, he beat up the Undertaker really bad before getting Tombstoned! Meanwhile, Bradshaw has been on a tear in the syndicated programming and remains undefeated. Given Undertaker's heavy night the day before, Bradshaw dominates the early exchanges with his roughhousing, Hansen-lite brand of lariats and shoulder blocks. After a break, Bradshaw continues to dominate the match and gets a near fall off a flying shoulderblock. However, Undertaker catches him on the second one and delivers a powerslam to wake up the crowd. Bradshaw goes back to the lariat and fells Taker with a big boot, but Taker rallies and hits his flying clothesline. A chokeslam and Tombstone follows, but MANKIND IS HERE to attack Taker and force a DQ. The match was a means to an end and very forgettable, especially compared to what comes after. (*)
Mankind just decimates an under-the-weather Taker here, sending him crashing into the steps before hitting his patented elbow drop from the apron. He then applies the Mandible Claw and puts Undertaker out as the crowd look on shocked. Awesome closing angle here, as they put over this new character BIG. And thus begins the feud that helps make Taker the long-term star he would become. And Foley doesn't do too badly out of it either (apart from losing a few teeth).
A pretty good follow-up to WrestleMania here with a bunch of new faces — that was quite refreshing to see. None of the action was blow-away good but it was all pretty solid and effective. Not much wastage here, an easy thumbs up.
NEXT WEEK: Shawn battles King and Vader gets it on with Yokozuna one-on-one!
Date: 1 April 1996
Location: Orange Pavilion; San Bernadino, CA
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
He's hardcore! He's hardcore!
It's the annual tradition of RAW After Mania, and it's debuts galore! Vince and Jerry welcome us to this live show from California, after a video package about WMXII.
Mankind def. Bob Holly (3:22)
After months of vignettes, Mankind has arrived. And as Vince would say, he's deranged! He just savages poor Bob Holly from the beginning and works him over in the corner, before hitting a running knee to down his opponent. And to celebrate, he pulls out his own hair. Meanwhile, there's a bunch of dudes in the front row who clearly enjoy a bit of ECW and chant "he's hardcore" (which Vince ignores, obviously). Holly tries to mount a comeback with a dropkick and then goes for a dive to the outside, but Mankind catches him and takes him back inside to finish the job. He sets up Holly in the corner for the TREE OF WOE and throws an elbow at his head. That puts Holly on the mat, so Mankind goes for the throat (so to speak) and applies the Mandible Claw. Holly submits but Mankind takes a long time to release it and forces him to emit some white substance. Very effective squash here to put over the Mankind character, and they're coming out of the gate pretty strong with it. (*1/2)
Hey, guess who's at ringside. It's Sable! We then take another look at the fight that broke out last night between her real husband Marc Mero and her date last night Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Speaking of wild men...
Marc Mero def. Isaac Yankem DDS (4:26)
Hey, Mero's music ain't bad! And Sable looks impressed, which brings out HHH to try and talk some sense into her. Mero sends Yankem outside early with a dropkick and then does a 360 plancha to the outside in a fun spot. Yankem then rolls back in, so Mero attempts a springboard leg drop and it looks...very bad. Mero is still going wild and catches the huge Yankem in a headscissors, before decking him with a knee lift. Yankem finally gets a moment to breathe, as he wipes out Mero with a clothesline. Yankem then applies a REST HOLD as Helmsley continues to harass Sable. Mero breaks out of the hold eventually and gets a near fall off a crucifix. Yankem attacks the back of Mero, hoping to slow him down a bit, but Mero steals another pin that Yankem kicks out from. Mero then engineers a sunset flip, and that's enough to keep Yankem down for three. Not a bad little debut for Mero here, although there were some awkward moments in there. (*3/4)
Post-match, Helmsley isn't giving up and tries to ward Sable away, so she slaps the shit out of him! Mero comes to the rescue and carries Sable out of there while Hunter fumes. I guess that makes them an official partnership.
The Bodydonnas (w/Sunny) def. Aldo Montoya & Barry Horowitz (5:31)
The Bodydonnas are our new Tag Team Champions but this match is non-title. Sunny is looking extra sexualised this evening. A bit of shock and awe gets Aldo off to a flying start, before tagging on Barry Horowitz. He has some fun beating on Skip like it's the middle of 1995 and tags Aldo back in. In the end, some double teaming gets Skip and Zip control and they hit a double flapjack on Montoya to assert their dominance. The champs have some fun with Aldo on the outside, but Skip's attempt to suplex Aldo back into the ring leads to him getting suplexed out of it! Gnarly spot. Montoya then leaps to the floor from the turnbuckle as the crowd begin to realise "hey, these guys are doing some cool shit". Barry gets the hot tag now and RUNS WILD, before getting a small package on Skip. That should be enough for three but Zip and Sunny have the referee distracted. Barry tags Aldo back in, and he hits a flying body press for another near fall. Skip rallies now, levelling Aldo with a German Suplex before hitting a spinebuster. Aldo is all at sea now, and Zip tags in for a Whoopee Cushion to finish the match. Kind of a lame ending to this one but these guys were rolling and actually won the crowd over. (**1/4)
It's interview time now, as Vince welcomes the NEW WWF Champion Shawn Michaels to this very ring. Shawn does a slightly queasy promo here, thanking the fans and giving Bret a shout out. It's 1996 Shawn though so it all feels very disingenuous. Diesel is HBK's opponent at the next IYH show (even though he lost at WMXII), but first he'll have to go through Jerry Lawler on RAW next week. Someone tell me what the actual point of that match is; does anyone really believe King is winning the big one ever?! He ends on the line that will become the subtitle for the upcoming PPV: him and Diesel were good friends, but they're better enemies. You could just feel the heat of Shawn's reign draining out the building here, as they were making to the same mistakes they made with Diesel.
The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def. Justin Bradshaw (w/Uncle Zebekiah) via DQ (4:54)
They keep going on about how battered and bruised Taker is after wrestling Diesel, as if that's meant to justify them giving the next title shot to a loser. It's okay, he beat up the Undertaker really bad before getting Tombstoned! Meanwhile, Bradshaw has been on a tear in the syndicated programming and remains undefeated. Given Undertaker's heavy night the day before, Bradshaw dominates the early exchanges with his roughhousing, Hansen-lite brand of lariats and shoulder blocks. After a break, Bradshaw continues to dominate the match and gets a near fall off a flying shoulderblock. However, Undertaker catches him on the second one and delivers a powerslam to wake up the crowd. Bradshaw goes back to the lariat and fells Taker with a big boot, but Taker rallies and hits his flying clothesline. A chokeslam and Tombstone follows, but MANKIND IS HERE to attack Taker and force a DQ. The match was a means to an end and very forgettable, especially compared to what comes after. (*)
Mankind just decimates an under-the-weather Taker here, sending him crashing into the steps before hitting his patented elbow drop from the apron. He then applies the Mandible Claw and puts Undertaker out as the crowd look on shocked. Awesome closing angle here, as they put over this new character BIG. And thus begins the feud that helps make Taker the long-term star he would become. And Foley doesn't do too badly out of it either (apart from losing a few teeth).
A pretty good follow-up to WrestleMania here with a bunch of new faces — that was quite refreshing to see. None of the action was blow-away good but it was all pretty solid and effective. Not much wastage here, an easy thumbs up.
NEXT WEEK: Shawn battles King and Vader gets it on with Yokozuna one-on-one!
